Seven Parables and Stories for the Week: Issue 28
A Fastidious Dove
There was
a fastidious dove who kept moving from one nest to another because it smelt
foul wherever he went. He complained about it to an old and wise dove. The old
dove remarked:
— Look,
you keep moving from one nest to another but nothing changes. Doesn’t it mean
that the smell that bothers you is your own smell?
Preacher
A
preacher came to a town to convert people into his faith. At first, people were
listening to his sermons but then the crowd dispersed until no one was left.
Although no one listened to him, he stood there preaching.
A
traveler was walking by, and asked the preacher:
– Why do
you keep preaching?
– At
first, I hoped to change those people, – he replied. – Now I keep preaching
only to prevent them from changing me.
The Pig and the Cow
The Pig
complained with the Cow that people treat it badly:
– People
like you more than me! People always praise you and say that you’re kind.
That’s fine: after all, you give them milk and butter! But don’t I give them
even more? I give them sausages, ham, steaks, leather, bristle… They even boil
and eat my legs! And yet, no one loves me. Why?
The cow
responded after some thinking:
– That’s
probably because I give everything while I’m still alive?
A Sly Architect
A rich
man called his personal architect and said:
– Build a
house in a remote land. You can make it the way you want it to be. I want to
present that house to a special friend of mine.
The
architect gladly accepted the order and went to the building site, where there
were lots of various building tools and materials already.
The
architect was a sly guy, though. He thought to himself, “I know my job: no one
will notice if I use low-grade materials or apply less stringent quality
control. The building will look fine in spite of that. I’ll be the only person
who knows about the minor defects. I’ll be able to fulfil the order quicker and
earn some more money by selling expensive building materials.”
The work
was done by the specified day. The rich man came to inspect the house. He
looked at it and said:
– Well
done! Now it’s time to present this house to my friend. He is so special for me
that I didn’t spare tools or materials to build him a house. You are that
precious friend of mine. I present this house to you!
God gives
each person a task to perform in life and lets everyone do it freely and use as
much creativity as one wants. Each of us will receive the house that he builds
in the course of his life on the Resurrection Day.
The Kingdom of Chains
There was
a blacksmith in a certain kingdom who made such beautiful chains that he
started wearing them. Other blacksmiths liked it and started wearing chains,
too. Other people, including the king and his court, followed suit. Soon, the
king issued an edict on universal wearing of chains. Teachers would teach
school children how to wear chains properly. Skilful jewellers made gold,
silver, and gemstone chains. Chains became the highest award in that kingdom.
There were tinkerers who developed new improved chains made of ultralight
alloys. Scholarly conferences and symposia on chain-ology were held. Scholars
even wrote a revised history of the kingdom to prove that its subjects had been
wearing chains since earliest times.
Nevertheless,
there were some people in that country who refused to wear chains. They were
persecuted, thrown into prisons, and forced to wear special chains that caused
pain. As they were dying, they bequeathed to their compatriots the following
commandment: “Unchain yourselves!” Little by little, there were more and more
people who followed that new commandment. Those who released themselves from
the weight of the chains explained to everybody else that it was much easier to
move.
Other
people would nod their heads in disbelief and say that being different is not
for everyone and go away, their chains rattling as they were walking.
Over
time, the majority of the kingdom’s populace came to realise that it is
possible to live without chains. The king issued a new decree that acquitted
those who had been persecuted for refusing to wear chains. They even erected a
monument in honor of those sufferers. However, many people did not have the
courage to take off their chains because they had gotten used to them.
There
were two holy hermits who lived in a desert. They agreed to plant a palm tree
at the entrance of their cells to provide shade during the daily heat. They met
some time later, and one of the hermits asked the other one, “You know,
brother, I pray to God asking him to send rain on my palm tree, and He sends
it. Then I ask him for the sun, and He sends it. And still, your palm tree
grows much better than mine. How do you pray for it?”
The other
hermit replied, “Brother, I simply pray, ‘Lord make my palm tree grow. And the
Lord sends me sun and rain when it’s required.’”
The Jar of Life
Students
filled the lecture hall waiting for the lecture to begin. The lecturer came and
put a big glass jar on the table. The audience was surprised.
– Today I
would like to talk with you about life. For starters: what can you say about
this jar?
– Well,
it’s empty, – someone said.
– You’re
right, – the lecturer nodded. He took a bag full of rocks and started throwing
them into the jar until it was full. – What can you say about this jar now?
– Well,
and now it’s full! – one of the students said.
The
lecturer took out a bag of peas and started pouring them into the jar. The peas
filled the space between the rocks:
– And
now?
– Now the
jar is even fuller!!! – the students yelled.
The
lecturer took a bag of sand and started pouring it into the jar.
– The jar
is fully full now! – the students said.
The
lecturer smiled, picked two bottles of water, and poured them into the jar.
– Now the
jar is really full, – he said. – Let me explain. The jar is our life. The rocks
are the most crucial things in our lives: family, children, loved ones, etc.;
peas are less valuable things like clothes or cars; sand is the rest of our
lives that is small and insignificant, all those minor problems that we have to
deal with daily… So if I poured the sand into the jar first, I wouldn’t be able
to put the peas or the rocks inside. That is why you shouldn’t let various
trifles fill your lives and block more important things. That’s it for today,
see you tomorrow.
Translated
by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: azbyka.ry/days
